|
| “ | I hate Mondays! | „ |
| ~ Garfield's most famous quote and catchphrase as well as one of the most iconic quotes in Pop culture history. |
| “ | Nice Touch. | „ |
| ~ Garfield's second catchphrase. |
| “ | Eat your heart out, Jim Davis. | „ |
| ~ Garfield's most hilarious quote. |
Garfield Cat, born as Victor Jr., is the titular main protagonist of Nickelodeon’s animated franchise of the same name. Originally a comic strip created by Jim Davis.
He is Jon Arbuckle's fat, lazy, Monday-hating and lasagna-loving pet cat and one of the most well-recognized and beloved comic strip characters in the United States, alongside Snoopy and Charlie Brown. He is also Vic's son, and Odie's best friend and partner.
Quick Answers
Why does Garfield hate Mondays?
What is Garfield's full name?
Who voices Garfield in 'Garfield and Friends'?
What is Garfield's favorite food?
Portrayals
- In Garfield and Friends, he was voiced by the late Lorenzo Music, who also voiced Peter Venkman in The Real Ghostbusters.
- In the two live-action films, he was briefly voiced by Bill Murray, who also portrays Peter Venkman in the Ghostbusters franchise, Phil Connors in Groundhog Day, Frank DeTorre in Osmosis Jones, Baloo in the 2016 version of Disney's The Jungle Book, and Boss in Isle of Dogs.
- Since Garfield Gets Real, he is currently voiced by Frank Welker, who also voices Curious George in the animated franchise of the same name, Bronx in Gargoyles, Dragon in the Shrek franchise, Scooby-Doo and Fred Jones in the Scooby-Doo franchise, Zilla Junior in Godzilla: The Series, Zero in The Nightmare Before Christmas, Hu in The Secret Life of Pets 2, Goddard in the Jimmy Neutron franchise, Sven in the Frozen franchise, Dante and Pepita in Coco, Abu and Rajah in the Aladdin franchise, Momma Dino in Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Max in the Little Mermaid franchise, Sonya in the Madagascar franchise, Blue in the Jurassic World trilogy, Elinor (in bear form) in Brave, and the Kitty in The Bad Guys.
- In the 2024 animated film by Columbia Pictures and Alcon Entertainment, he is voiced by Chris Pratt, who also plays Star Lord in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Owen Grady in the Jurassic World trilogy, Emmet Brickowski in the LEGO Movie franchise, Barley Lightfoot in Disney and Pixar's Onward, and Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
Brief History and Overview
Garfield was born in the kitchen of an Italian restaurant on a winter's night in 1978. He weighed five pounds, six ounces at birth, which is unusually big for a kitten. Right from the start Garfield showed a passion for Italian food. The restaurant owner, forced to choose between Garfield and closing his doors for lack of pasta, sold Garfield to a pet store. Garfield thought he was a goner until Jon Arbuckle walked in the door and approached him. The man showed sympathy for the cat and adopted the latter.
Garfield is a fat and ginger cat. He lives with his owner Jon and a dog named Odie. Garfield despises Odie and often beats him up. Garfield is most well known for his prodigious eating ability. He also has strength disproportionate to his size, as he can often beat up humans. He also has use opposable thumbs which allow him to use many gadgets such a bungee ropes. He is sometimes seen walking up walls using his claws.
He also hates Nermal when he always tries to send him to Abu Dhabi.
In his debut in Garfield and Friends, he was presumed for one Miss Edna Fogerty and subjected to numerous forms of egregious torment by the legendary Binky the Clown. He had innocently wished who he presumed to be Miss Fogerty a happy birthday, only for Garfield to cruelly wish death upon him. Fantasizing about Binky being dragged into the street (which he could have done himself had he not been so slothful) he tried to fall asleep, only to be roused to consciousness by an elaborate drum set and made to absorb the smell of a deceivingly gorgeous flower that brought a state of wetness unto his fur to dampen his resting booth. He callously banished Binky from his house, but the clown's admirable willpower exceeded his own, and he returned promptly, clad in a Santa Claus costume. He presented to him a wrapped present with a tag reading "CAUTION: SPLUT ENCLOSED", which caused a pie to be smacked into his face. But Binky's most beautiful asset of all was a tin of chocolate, which Garfield thankfully learned too late contained chocolate-covered Tabasco hot peppers. He masqueraded as Miss Fogerty to throw Binky off, only for Jon to bring him back shortly thereafter. Garfield fled, but Binky fortunately got the last laugh by awaiting him on a mountain, so blatantly clairvoyant was he. It was all Garfield could do was to accept his inevitable defeat and partake in the long-awaited permittance of Binky's wholesome singing.
Appearance
Garfield's appearance has changed dramatically over the years. In the first couple of years of the strip, he resembled a real Exotic Shorthair cat and was larger. Over time, Garfield started to get smaller and less morbidly obese. He also gained more human tendencies such as walking on two feet (previously he walked on all fours) but has remained silent for the rest of the strip. He also has four toes on his feet. Despite the changes, Garfield has always remained an orange tabby throughout the franchise.
Abilities
- Telepathy: Throughout the franchise, Garfield is known for having internal monologues that are converted into text via thought bubbles. In the Lorenzo Music era, his mouth was always closed (when he isn't eating, yawning, or making faces), since it is established that he and the other animals cannot talk. Despite this, he seems to communicate with Jon through some sort of telepathic connection. He can communicate with elephants, humans (understand, but not talk to), dogs, mice, and other animals.
- Intelligence: Likewise, Garfield has high intelligence to the point of an average human. He is capable of reading and writing and can operate an array of basic electronics such as TVs, telephones, voice recorders, computers (with a mouse, not the touch-pad), etc. He can write with a goose feather or by dipping his claws into a bottle of ink. He can also operate basic machinery in case of an emergency.
- Prodigious Appetite: Garfield's appetite is the stuff of legend, as he once ate 244 hot dogs.
Personality
Garfield is an overweight anthropomorphic orange tabby feline who is well-known for his laziness, hate for Mondays, acerbic wit, and strong passion for food, particularly lasagna, singer, little Cindy-Lou who, pizza, and ice cream. Throughout the course of the strip, Garfield's weight is often an object of ridicule, particularly by his talking electronic scale. Garfield usually does not handle insults or commands from the scale (or anybody else) very well, and will normally respond to such remarks with violence or a comeback of some type.
Garfield lives with his slightly eccentric, socially awkward owner Jon Arbuckle and Jon's unintelligent yet charming pet dog Odie, and enjoys satirically teasing them. He particularly enjoys causing Odie physical harm or insulting him, and teases Jon for his social awkwardness and unpopularity with women. Despite this, Garfield cares for Odie and Jon, but cares most for his beloved teddy bear Pooky, which is frequently seen in his arms or close to its owner. Even though he hates Binky the Clown with a seething passion, he is still willing to bail him out of jail.
Trivia
- In an interview, Bill Murray stated that he took the role of Garfield because he originally thought the script was written by Joel Coen of the Coen brothers. It wasn't until the recording process, and watching dailies, that he realized that it was written by Joel Cohen, not the same person that he was thinking of.
- Garfield's breed is implied to be an Orange Tabby.
- While Garfield has become a famous Internet meme, perhaps the most famous meme he is a part of comes from a 2013 YouTube video from YouTuber PilotRedSun titled Garfielf, where he, Jon, and Odie are represented in a manner similar to the comic strip, but are drawn horribly and speak with text-to-speech voices. The video has 16 million views as of 2026 and has been remixed multiple times.
- Garfield is based on Heathcliff who appeared five years earlier before Garfield.
- He is the third character played by Chris Pratt to have a father, the first being Star-Lord from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Mario from The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
External Links
- Garfield on the Garfield Wiki
- Garfield on the Heroic Benchmark Wiki
- Garfield on the Inconsistently Heinous Wiki
- Garfield (TGS) on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki
- Garfield (LA) on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki
- Garfield (AF) on the Near Pure Good Wiki
- Garfield (AF) on the Ultimate Good Wiki
 Heroes
| ||
|
Garfield U.S. Acres/Orson's Farm Other Characters Movies | ||
 Heroes
| ||
|
| ||
References
- ↑ He once ate an entire TV and was completely unharmed